It seems that everything Elon Musk does attracts attention. The CEO of electric vehicle kingpin Tesla (TSLA 4.96%) seems to have a knack for making headlines. In the buzz that constantly surrounds him, truly interesting news can get lost in the chaos.
On this clip from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Feb. 12, "The Wrap" host Jason Hall and Fool.com contributor Danny Vena recounts three recent reports regarding Musk's lucrative stock options, the potential for additional tax credits for Tesla, and the unrivaled halo of satellites put into orbit by another Musk company, SpaceX.
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Jason Hall: Danny, Elon Musk?
Danny Vena: Musk. Musk. Musk. I'll start off by saying the draw for what Elon Musk is doing. This is really attractive information for shareholders. The fact that Tesla grew 743% last year, it gives a little bit of background.
Musk got four grants in 2020, to buy 8.4 million shares of Tesla stock. After paying the exercise price, those blocks of options are worth $6.2 billion. Combined, just short of $25 billion, meaning that from those options alone, Musk has made more money than he was worth last year, when Forbes put him on the billionaire list as the world's 31st richest person.
A couple of other pieces of information, Congress may give Tesla buyers an additional 400,000 tax credits of $7,000 each, as congressional Democrats just passed the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now Act, or GREEN Act. If that passes, Tesla is going to be able to let buyers take up $7,000 tax credit for its next 400,000 cars sold.
Finally, SpaceX now owns about one-third of all active satellites in the sky, as a result of recent launches of its Starlink Internet constellation, has about 1,000 active satellites in the sky, by far, the largest array in orbit. Musk, Musk, and more Musk.
Hall: When's the cologne coming out, Musk by Elon? Is that overplayed? [laughs]
Vena: Touche.
